MORE ice cream sandwiches: lemon cookies with vanilla ice cream

I already posted a recipe for gingersnap ice cream sandwiches, but I have to admit that gingersnaps are not my favorite cookie and after making a batch of sandwiches for my dad, I felt the need to make a batch that my mom and I could enjoy. Enter: lemon cookies! The only problem was that I didn't have a good lemon cookie recipe so off to the internet I went and I managed to discover this treat on this blog: http://www.laurenslatest.com/. 

These lemon cookie sandwiches with vanilla ice cream are delicious!

Lemon crinkles

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
powdered sugar for rolling

Note: If you are planning on chilling the dough you won't need to preheat the oven yet.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, egg, lemon zest and lemon juice. Scrape the sides if needed. Stir in all the dry ingredients until combined. If desired, chill the dough for easier handling. Roll into balls about 1 1/2 to 2 inches across and then roll in the powdered sugar. Place the balls onto greased, dark baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes until the bottoms just start to turn golden and the cookies start to crack. Remove from oven and let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes or until well set, and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. 

More notes: the original recipe says to mix the dry ingredients until just combined but I mixed them well and they seemed to turn out fine. The original recipe also says to use light baking sheets but I did my batch half and half, on both light and dark sheets and the batch on the dark sheets spread out less and kept a slightly thicker, rounder shape that worked better for me.

You can find the original recipe here: http://www.laurenslatest.com/lemon-crinkle-cookies/.

Time to make the sandwiches! Let some vanilla ice cream thaw out a bit until it is slightly softened.
Set out pieces of plastic wrap to be ready to wrap your sandwiches. Take one cookie and place it upside down. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out a ball of the slightly softened vanilla ice cream and place it on top of the cookie. Take a second cookie and gently press down onto the ice cream, flattening out the ice cream and spreading it to the edges. If excess ice cream squeezes out of the sandwich just take a knife or your finger and smooth around the edges. Place the sandwich in the center of the plastic and tightly wrap the sandwich and then place into the freezer. Freeze for a couple hours and then enjoy. If you, like me, have trouble waiting for a couple hours for anything containing sugar, then you can also set aside one to have right away. These are delicious and well worth the little bit of work it takes to make them.

Ice cream sandwiches: gingerbread cookie with vanilla ice cream

In honor of father's day I decided to make these ice cream sandwiches because of the many things my father likes (cheese, broccoli, beets, chocolate, taffy, etc), gingersnaps and ice cream are also high on the list. So for a father's day treat I decided to combine these two loves into one delicious treat. I briefly contemplated making beet cookies with cheddar ice cream but decided I wasn't ready to be quite so adventurous. I don't think my dad was too crushed with my choice.

Yumm... It may not look perfect but I find that taste buds care about personality more than looks.

Gingersnap cookies

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger (totally optional)
Sugar for rolling dough in

Note: if you are chilling the dough, you don't need to preheat the oven yet. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and molasses. Stir in all the remaining ingredients until well mixed, scraping the sides if needed. At this point you may want to refrigerate the dough to make it easier to handle. Roll the dough into balls about 1 1/2 or 2 inches across. Try to keep them equal in size. Roll the balls in sugar to coat them, then place them 3 inches apart on greased dark baking sheets. Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes or until the edges are set and the tops have started cracking. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the sheets for at least 5 minutes. When they are well set, move them to racks to cool completely. 

When they are totally cool you are ready to make your sandwiches.

Set out pieces of plastic wrap to be ready to wrap your sandwiches. Take one cookie and place it upside down. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out a ball of slightly softened vanilla ice cream and place it on top of the cookie. Take a second cookie and gently press down onto the ice cream, flattening out the ice cream and spreading it to the edges. If excess ice cream squeezes out of the sandwich just take a knife or your finger and smooth around the edges. Place the sandwich in the center of the plastic and tightly wrap the sandwich and then place into the freezer. Freeze for a couple hours and then enjoy.

Rustic Pear Tart

While I have put off the daily art for the time being, I have not put off baking. Today's specialty: Rustic Pear Tart. The original recipe came from Sunset (my favorite) magazine, but I've altered it a bit, leaving out the egg wash and the creme fraiche, and making a few other changes. I'll include the original and my alteration recipe.

Original Rustic Pear Tart

1 sheet (about 10-12 inch) frozen puff pastry (14 oz package), thawed
2-3 firm-ripe pears, like Bosc or Comice
About 1/3 cup orange marmalade
1 large egg, beaten to blend
About 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
6 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out pastry, on a floured surface, to 16x18 inches. Cut into thirds lengthwise and in half crosswise - you'll have 6 pieces. Transfer them to the baking sheets. Core the pears and cut into thin wedges. Arrange them, overlapping them slightly, on the pastry rectangles, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border clear. Warm the marmalade in the microwave to melt, then brush over the pears. Fold border over edge of pears, stretching slightly and pressing down to hold. Brush new edges the egg, then sprinkle turbinado sugar over the tarts, especially the edges. Bake until pastries are richly browned, 25-30 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk creme fraiche and sugar until slightly thickened. Serve warm or cool, with creme fraiche.




The Unfarm's Rustic Pear Tart

1 sheet (about 10-12 inch) frozen puff pastry (14 oz package), thawed
2-3 firm-ripe pears, like Bosc or Comice
About 1/3 cup orange marmalade, heated in the microwave
About 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Whipped cream, optional

Option one: family style: Preheat oven to 375. Grease a baking sheet. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface, to 16x18 inches. Transfer it to the baking sheet. Core the pears (and peel if you want) then cut into small chunks and drop them into a bowl. Measure out the marmalade into another bowl and melt it in the microwave, then add it to the pears. Toss the pears until they are evenly coated. Spoon them out onto the pastry, leaving a 1 inch border. Fold the pastry edge over and secure (press) against pears. Sprinkle the sugar over the tart, especially on the edges. Bake until tart is golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces and serve (best warm) plain, or with whipped cream.

Option 2: individual tarts: Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out pastry, on a floured surface, to 16x18 inches. Cut into thirds lengthwise and in half crosswise - you'll have 6 pieces. Transfer them to the baking sheets. Core the pears and cut into small chunks. Toss them with the marmalade in a large bowl, then spoon them onto the pastry sheets, leaving a 1 inch border. Fold the pastry edge over and secure (press) against pears. Sprinkle the sugar over the tart, especially on the edges. Bake until tart is golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Serve plain, or with whipped cream. (Tastes best warm)

Lemon Pudding Cake

The batter separates into a sponge cake layer atop a pudding bottom.

2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 350. Set 6 ramekins (6 oz each) in a 9x13 baking pan, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until thick and creamy. Stir in flour, milk, butter, lemon juice and lemon zest. In a large, clean bowl, whip egg whites and salt until firm (but not dry) peaks form. Stir one quarter of the egg whites into the yolk mixture until blended, then gently fold in remaining whites. Pour the batter into the ramekins. Pour enough hot water into the baking pan to come one inch up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until cake layers are set and tops are lightly golden, about 30 minutes. Remove ramekins from water bath and let cool to room temperature before serving.

Notes: This is another recipe from my favorite-est magazine in the world, Sunset. I highly recommend getting a subscription to it, especially if you live in the west as it is the magazine of western living.

I pretty much followed the directions on this one - I think in baking there's a little less wiggle room than there is in cooking. I've seen several recipes for ramekins and I've always wanted some so I broke down and bought some for this recipe - if you like baking a lot I think ramekins are a fun investment. And if you buy them at Cost Plus World Market, they're practically free - $2.99 for 4!

The recipe turned out pretty well, I think. Especially if you like lemon. I would probably like this better if it was done with chocolate instead so I might try to find a way to alter it or something... It's also a little bit more technical (is that the right word?) than I typically like but it's a good summer dessert - sort of light and airy and fresh.